New Girl in the Family
by xLawlietx
Summary: Reese, Malcolm and Dewey have grown up in a house of guys all of their lives (with the exception of their mother). What will happen when Hal's newly orphaned Goddaughter Bella moves in? Love, tears, and action ensue.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters taken from the TV show Malcolm in the Middle. I only own my original characters and the storyline**

**Author's note: This is my first fan fiction so please review it in order for me to improve in the future :)**

**In terms of age Malcolm - 14  
Reese - 15  
Dewey-8**

LOIS'S POV

'That poor girl.' I sighed in the passenger side of our worn out van.

'At least now we'll finally have another girl in our family.' my husband Hal said glancing over at me from the driver's side.

'God Hal, keep your eyes on the road! The last thing our kids need is to have _their _parents die in a car crash!'

We pulled into the driveway and headed inside. I could hear shouts and marched into the living room, only to find my sons fighting again.

MALCOLM'S POV

'MALCOLM! REESE! DEWEY!' I froze. Mom was home. I guess I'd have to deal with her later.

'Give it Reese!' I shouted, pulling my older brothers hair.

'Make me monkey face!' he retorted, digging his fists into my sides.

'But I want it!' whined Dewey, who was kicking us.

'I CAN'T LEAVE YOU THREE ALONE FOR AN HOUR WITHOUT YOU TEARING UP THE HOUSE! CAN I?' Mom bellowed as she stormed over to us.

'It's not my fault! Reese has been hogging the TV remote for ages and I want to watch _my _show.' I told her.

'Well Malcolm broke the family vase!'

'Did not!'

'He did too! I saw him.'

'Shut up Dewey! No one was talking to you.'

'ENOUGH! I'VE HAD IT WITH YOU BOYS! I'LL BE GLAD WHEN THAT GIRL MOVES IN!' Mom yelled, her face beginning to turn red.

'Wait, what girl?' we asked in unison.

Mom stopped in her tracks and exchanged looks with our father. 'Now boys, we need to tell you something important. Please sit down.' Dad's calm voice contrasted Mom perfectly. The three of us sat down on the old red sofa, which creaked under our weight, and looked at him with questioning eyes. 'Well, recently one of my best friends died with his wife in a car crash.' He began.

'We know dad, we went to the funeral.' I reminded him.

'Yes, well it turns out that he had a daughter about the same age as Malcolm and now she needs a place to live. So we suggested our place.'

'What? But doesn't she have any other relatives?' Dewey piped up.

'Both her father and mother were only children and I happen to be her Godfather so-'

'Fine, just as long as she doesn't hold up the bathroom,' Reese shrugged.

'You kids better be nice to her or so help me-,' Mom gave us a warning glare, 'Now go to your room. Your father and I need to talk.'

'But that's not fair!' Reese wailed.

'DO IT!' she ordered.

'Yes ma'am' he nodded quickly.

REESE'S POV

_A girl huh?_ I thought while lying on my bed that evening. _I wonder if she's hot. After all, we won't be blood related or anything._ I rolled over. Dewey was busy playing on his Nintendo DS while Malcolm was reading some lame book. _Wait a minute, I want that Nintendo DS! _'Hey Dewey!' I called to him.

_'_Yes Reese?' he asked. I could hear him flinching from his voice.

'Give me that!' I got up and went over to him, being as intimidating as could.

'No way! I'm using it.'

'Well now I want it. So give it here!' I demanded, curling up my fist. Suddenly I felt a blinding pain and fell to the floor in agony. It took me a second to realise that the little pipsqueak had punched me in the crotch. 'You son of a -,'

BELLA'S POV

That night I lay awake wondering what my father's friend's family were like. I imagined the perfect family; a happy and smiling mother who fussed over her children, a fun loving father who went to watch his kids in school plays and sporting tryouts. I'd heard that they has 3 sons so I saw them as brothers who were like best friends. Just like what you see on TV or in those children's picture books. I sighed and hope they'd accept me...


	2. Chapter 2 First meeting

BELLA'S POV

'This is it Bella,' Lois, who I guess was now my new mother, smiled at me, 'Welcome home sweetie.' I gazed out of the foggy car window. The house looked normal enough and I could feel the corners of my mouth tugging upwards as I replayed what Lois had just said to me in my mind. _Welcome home._

I thanked Lois for the ride and trailed behind her as she opened the front door and stepped inside, like how a baby duckling follows its mother. Suddenly my ears were bombarded with shrilling high pitched screams. 'Oh my god, not again,' Lois sounded exasperated as she turned to me, 'you wait here, I'll just be a minute.' Then she stomped into the hallway and out of view, leaving me alone in the living room.

Suddenly a little boy wearing footsie pyjamas ran into me. 'Are you alright.' I asked bending down so I was eye level with him.

'STRANGER DANGER! STRANGER DANGER!,' he said and tried to back away from me only to end up tripping over a discarded pizza box left on the ground.

Frazzled I went over to him. 'Hey, hey, hey, I'm not a stranger! My name is Bella and I'm coming to live with your family. That's all. I don't mean any harm.' I stammered

He gazed up at me with saucer like eyes before he hopped to his feet; appearing unscathed thankfully. 'Oh yeah! mom and dad told us about you,' he grinned, every trace of fear was gone from his voice, 'I'm Dewey and I'm eight!'

'Hi Dewey, I heard about you. You're the youngest of your brothers right?' I said, glad he wasn't frightened anymore.

'Yeah, I hate them!'

'What?!'

'Well except for Francis. But he was kicked out by mom,' he said unfazed, suddenly his eyes lit up 'Hey do you want to play fort?'

'What's for-,' I began but my voice trailed off when Lois came back into the room holding two teenage guys about my age by their ears.

MALCOLM'S POV

'Ow, ow, ow!' I complained as Mom dragged me into the living room by my earlobe along with Reese. Suddenly the pressure loosened and she let go.

'Boys, this is Bella. As you know she is going to be living with us from now on, so I expect you to make her feel at home,' I could hear the hostility in Mom's voice. Still rubbing my ear I looked over at this new girl standing in our house. She had waist length brown hair and clear blue eyes that were now fixed on the black eye I had just given Reese. Oh well, better she knew what we were capable of sooner than later I guess. And anyway, he deserved it!

Despite the rest of her appearance there was one thing that my eyes ended up straying towards, and I knew the same thought would be running through my brother's head. Damn, she had big boobs. She realised what we were staring at after a few moments and blushed profusely. 'U-um, hi. My name is Bella Carter, well I guess it Bella Wilkerson now.' She smiled awkwardly, 'Nice to meet you.' She was obviously the shy type.

'Hey, I'm Malcolm. And this is my brother Reese.' I said gesturing towards him. He seemed like he couldn't care less about talking to her. _What a jerk_ I thought _her family died and she has to live with a brand new family. The least he could do is introduce himself._

_'_Um do you want to see our room? We don't have much space in the house so you'll be sharing with us...,' I went on, hoping that she wouldn't notice Reese's unwelcoming vibe.

'No! She's going to play fort with me,' Dewey said, hugging her leg.

'I wasnt asking _you_ Dewey,'

'Oh um, it's really ok. I'll see the later anyway I suppose. Thanks for offering though,' she smiled politely.

REESE'S POV

I barely said anything to Bella all night. So what if she's got a big chest, and so what if she's nice. She's like the polar opposite of me. Beside's I'm a bully. Why would a cute girl like that want to be friends with me? I'll just end up hurting her, right?

It's probably better I don't get close to her...

**AN: Hi there, this is chapter 2 of my first fanfiction ^_^**

**I hope you enjoyed it and sorry if it was a bit boring, but I plan on making the strory more interesting in the following chapters so I hope you continue reading it, Reviews are welcome :3**


	3. Chapter 3 A week later

BELLA'S POV

It's been about a week since I first moved in. The school bell rang and a group of kids including me filed into the chemistry classroom early. I sighed, glad that lunch was over. I'd never really be the type of person who made friends easily (due to being cursed with shyness) so I'd mostly just been sitting alone in the school yard.

I plonked myself on my usual seat at the lab table I shared with Malcolm. I was really happy when I found out he would be in some of my classes. At least then I'd know someone I could talk too.

My 'brother' still hadn't made it to class yet when I noticed a piece of pink paper folded up on his desk. I usually don't go poking in other people's business but I somehow found myself picking up the coloured note and opening it with nimble hands. The words were written beautifully in cursive and the author had used a purple gel ink pen to scrawl out the message.

_**Hey sweetie, I was wondering if you wanted to make a study date sometime. I'm struggling with my maths assaignment and know you'll be able to do it. Please 3 xxx Chloe Brown**_

I gasped and quickly resealed the letter. As if on cue Malcolm walked in just after I lay it back where I found it. 'Hi Bella.' he waved as he flung his bag onto the ground. I gave him a cheerful smile in response.

'Wilkerson, so kind of you to join us. Would you perhaps care to answer the problems I've written on the board while you were taking your time in getting here?' Mr. Stanley raised an eyebrow at Malcolm's tardiness. Malcolm let out a large sigh, stood up and recited the answer to every problem perfectly. The teacher didn't look amused. 'Just sit back down,' he said begrudgingly. Malcolm's high intelligence often irritated the school faculty, but in their defence he did generally provoke them.

The blue eyed boy sat back down with a look of boredom on his face. The look vanished when he saw the pastel paper sitting in front of him. His eyes lit up as he eagerly read it, a lovesick sigh seeped out of his lips. I searched my memories of the past seven days to see if I could find anything on 'Chloe Brown.'

Suddenly it hit me,_ a few days ago in my French class the two girls in front of me were talking during the lesson. I'd heard there names while the teacher called out attendance; Chloe Brown and Suzie Campbell. I tried to pay attention, being a goody two shoes straight A student, but it was impossible for me not to hear their conversation. 'Ohmygod, you already broke up with Brad?!' Suzie's high pitch voice questioned Chloe 'I knew he wasn't right for you, way to geeky.'_

_Chloe flicked her long golden locks behind her shoulder, 'I only dated him to get an A in biology,' she rolled her eyes as if it was obvious. 'Besides I found another kid who's even smarter than Brad. His name was Marcus or Matthew or something. Anyway, he's not all that attractive but I should be able to get him to do one or two assignments for me,' she giggled._

_Suddenly her eye caught me staring at her, 'Take a picture, it'll last longer,' she snarled looking me up and down, 'Your that new girl right? Bianca?'_

_'Bella,' I corrected her, flinching from her icy glare. I never really had very good confidence and always got picked on. Unfortunately I still take every new insult as a fresh wound. _

_'Whatever, loser,' she spat before turning back to Suzie and whispered something in her ear. The two burst out giggling._

I suddenly realised as I looked at Malcolm now, they must have been talking about him! But should I tell him? Before I managed to work up the nerve the bell rang. I couldn't believe the lesson went by so quick.

**LATER THAT EVENING**

I smiled as I admired the final pristinely cleaned plate with my wet fingers. I wiped the suds off my hands on the threadbare apron I had on and lifted in over my neck. 'Thanks for washing up honey, I know the boys would never do it without being asked,' Lois said gratefully.

'It's the least I can do,' I told her politely before going into the bedroom I now shared with the boys. Dewey had gone to a friend's house for the night and Reese and Malcolm were sitting on the beds discussing something. I timidly made my way over to them. 'Um what are you guys talking about?' I asked.

'There's a big party on tonight a few blocks over, and we're going to crash it.' Malcolm explained.

'But didn't your mom ground you for lighting those tyres on fire?' I asked worriedly.

'That's why we're sneaking out, duh!' Reese rolled his eyes, 'you... wanna come?'

I was taken by surprise at this. Reese hadn't been the most charitable person around me but I really wanted him to like me as I could feel that he was a good person deep down. 'Sure, thanks for asking me,' I found myself saying. I knew sneaking out would be a bad thing but this was the first time Reese had ever asked me something and I didn't want to lose the chance at him finally being my friend.

He must have had an idea of what I was thinking as he then stammered 'I-Its not like I care if you do or not. Don't take it the wrong way!' Grabbing a duffel bag he went to the window and began clambering outside. He looked over his shoulder at us, 'you coming?'

That night was the first time I ever broke curfew.

**AN: I know I wrote this chapter from one person's point of view only. I hope you guys don't mind =^_^= In the next chapter it will switch I think. **


	4. Chapter 4 Bella's Fear

REESE'S POV

I couldn't wait to crash that party. How dare Kyle Zimmerman not invite us to it? He won't do that again when I'm finished beating the crap out of him tomorrow. I readjusted the strap of the duffel bag on my shoulder. _Man, fireworks are heavy. This better be worth it._

I turned around to face Malcolm who was busy talking with Bella. I could feel a pang of annoyance in the pit of my stomach for some reason. 'Hey, dipwad! Why do _I_ have to carry the bag? This thing ways a ton!' I complain.

'Because Reese, I'm the brains and you're the... uh...,' he looked around trying to find the right word, 'muscle? Yeah that's it.'

I spun back around, bored already. I could feel Bella's eyes bore into my back, making me uncomfortable. _Jeez, does she have to do that? _'Quit staring at me!' I shot back at her, daggers in my voice.

'I-,' she flailed, red was seeping into her cheeks. 'I'm sorry,' she finally admitted, averting her gaze to the ground and looking like she'll cry any minute. I cringed; I didn't mean to come off so harshly. Malcolm gave me a disproving look that made me want to hit him.

'Don't take it so hardly!' I told her, trying to reverse whatever negative affect my previous words had on her. 'It's not like I want to hurt you or anything! Stop taking things so personally,' I huffed.

Suddenly a golden retriever emerged from the shadows and I was almost deafened by an ear-splitting scream.

Bella's POV

Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. Not a dog. Not a dog. PLEASE not a dog! I started screaming and clutched onto Malcolm's arm. Both he and his brother looked completely startled by my outburst. I didn't care though; I just wanted that animal away from me!

It took them a few moments to realise what was going on; that I was afraid of the blond-furred beast that was now coming straight for us, pink tongue hanging out. 'It's ok, it's ok,' Malcolm tried to comfort me.

'GET OUT OF HERE YOU MANGY MUTT!' I heard Reese shout. The dog was circling his legs and sniffing his left pocket repeatedly. 'HEY THAT BACON'S FOR ME! YOU CAN'T HAVE ANY SO GO HOME!' he took the strip of bacon out of his pocket and shoved the whole thing in his mouth. The dog whined sadly and wandered off back in the direction from which it came. 'THAT'LL TEACH YOU!'

'Ok, it's gone now. Could you please let go of me?' Malcolm asked me, his voice tainted with pain. I immediately let go of his arm. I hadn't realised I was gripping onto him so tightly. I was breathing too rapidly to talk so they sat me on a broken down wall that bordered a nearby house.

'Why are you afraid of dogs?' Reese blurted out. Malcolm smacked him on his head

'Everyone's afraid of something Reese, give her a break. And why the hell do you have bacon in your pocket?'

'I get headaches if I go too long without meat,' he shrugged.

'It's ok, there is a reason,' I finally found my voice. 'When I was little I used to love dogs and one day... Well I was walking alone in the neighbourhood when I saw a Doberman coming down the street. It was coming straight for me and I thought it wanted to play so I didn't run or anything. It turns out that it had escaped from an illegal dog fighting arena and well...' I paused, 'I woke up in hospital the next day with this.' Hesitating, I lifted up my t-shirt, exposing a pink scar that ran from my belly button to the side of my left hip.

Malcolm sucked in his breath. 'That's some scar,' Reese said under his breath. I obscured my injury under the folds of my shirts fabric again, hiding the memory of my traumatic experience.

'I've never felt safe around dogs since.' I mumbled, staring down at the chipped brickwork that I was now seated on.

'We better get going, we're going to miss the party otherwise,' Malcolm quickly tried to changed the subject. I smiled at him weakly; he was a good person despite his outwardly sarcastic and sometimes arrogant demeaner that he put on around his family and peers.

'Yeah, I can't wait to see the look on that dork's face when we light these puppies' Reese smiled devilishly as he swung his duffel bag, making whatever contents it holds bang against each other. 'He won't know what hit him.'

_Light these puppies? What does that mean? _'Wait, what exactly is in that bag?' I asked uncertainly.

'Just the usual; firecrackers, chasers, and a few rockets,' Malcolm said while dusting off his pants with his hands.

'Fireworks?!' I exclaimed, panic rising in my tone, 'Did I just hear you right? Isn't that illegal?'

'Relax Bella; we've done this a million times.'

'A _million times_? You guys don't understand, I've never been in trouble with the law before. I always follow the rules! I-'

'You're such a goody two shoes,' that time it was Reese who spoke, 'just live a little.'

I sighed in defeat, being the pushover that I was. 'I thought crashing a party just meant going in without an invitation.'

The two brothers glanced at each other. They both looked like they were ready to burst out laughing. Eventually Malcolm pulled himself together enough to say 'Not in this family sister.'


	5. Chapter 5 Crashing the party

Malcolm's POV

By the time we made our way through the neighbourhood the Zimmerman's home was flooded with partygoers. Multicoloured lights flashed behind the windows and spilled out on to the road, illuminating the street. Loud, incomprehensible music pulsated throughout the walls and merged with the sound of shouting and laughter from inside.

Reese unzipped his bag, revealing two smaller ones. I knew that each was filled with explosive fireworks. He handed me one bag and took the other one for himself before tossing the remainder of the bigger bag into the bushes. It was nothing new, we both would split up in order to cause as much havoc as possible and then sneak out before the cops came.

We nodded to each other and Reese took off into the house.

'Um what's going on? Where's he going?' a quiet yet concerned voice spoke up from behind me and a finger tapped me on the shoulder. Startled, I turned around. I'd completely forgotten that Bella was there.

'He's going to cover inside the house. I'm doing the outside,'

She shifted feet awkwardly; obviously unsure of what she should do next as she looked at me with scared eyes. I sighed, 'You better come with me, let's do the pool first.'

It was too cold to swim but the poolside area was still swamped with people who were laughing and drinking and pushing each other into the freezing water. I smiled; they had no idea what would happen within the next few moments.

Inconspicuously, we snuck into the vicinity; keeping towards the edge in the shadows. 'Hold this,' I told Bella as I thrust my bag into her arms. Crouching low on the grass that outlined the tiled pool area I asked her to hand me one of the firecrackers. Reluctantly, she passed it too me.

I took out a small packet of matches out of my front pocket and lit the string. I couldn't help but grin as the thin rope lit up with a glowing black ember that quickly began to devour it as it made its way up to the firework. Just as it was about to make contact I threw it into the air, above everyone. I ducked back down, pulling Bella with me and listened as it gave a satisfying pop midflight before landing.

Everyone got a fright but it wasn't good enough. I seized the bag from Bella and grabbed an entire handful of firecrackers this time. Her eyes grew wide as she mouthed _no_. I rolled my eyes at her as I struck another match, lighting them all up in one go before tossing them into the sky again. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! The night lit up as each one went off within a tenth of a second before the next one. I must have used about ten of them. I watched in delight as people fell into the pool, ducked, screamed and ran for cover.

'Malcolm, please stop! You'll hurt someone.' Bella pleaded. Just as she said this a rocket shot out of an open window. It almost ignited the pulled-back lace curtain.

'Fine, let's get out of here,' I said. Just as we were about to go I heard my name being called.

'Malcolm sweetie, I didn't know you were coming,' I' was suddenly facing my girlfriend Chloe.

'Hey Chloe, I finished our maths assignment by myself, so you don't even have to worry about it. It's a guaranteed A.' I told her, wanting her affection.

'Aww you're such a sweetheart,' she gushed and kissed me.

Bella's POV

It was _her _again. I watched as Chloe Brown started making out with Malcolm. He was completely oblivious to the fact that she was playing with his emotions for homework. But if I told Malcolm, wouldn't that crush him? Maybe I should just stay out of it...

Swiftly Chloe opened her eyes and fixed them on me. She pulled back from him and smirked at me before turning to him with a look of pure innocence on her face. 'You haven't introduced me to your friend,' she said, her voice was as sickly sweet as honey as she twirled a strand of highlighted hair around her finger.

'Oh um sorry,' he apologised, 'Chloe this is Bella, Bella this is my girlfriend Chloe,' he mumbled.

'So nice to meet you,' she gave me a fake smile. I couldn't believe she was acting like we'd never met before. I would have slapped her if I wasn't such a pacifist.

'Malcolm we need to go,' I reminded him pulling him away from her. I looked over my shoulder to see her wave her manicured fingers at me like we were best friends.

When we get to the front lawn I finally let go of him. 'What was that about?' he sounds annoyed.

I decided to tell him everything. 'Malcolm, she's not right for you. I'm in her She sits in front of me in French class and I-,'

'Oh my god! You're just like mom!' he cuts me off, 'can't I just once have something in my life that makes me happy without other people trying to ruin it?!'

'Y-you don't understand, she's only using you to get you to do her homework,' I tried to tell him but my voice had gone as quiet as a whisper. I never liked it when others raised their voice at me.

'Just stay out of it, she's my girlfriend and I'm not going to let other people destroy it for me!' Suddenly a cop car's siren wailed in the distance. 'Let's just find Reese and leave.'

We found him by the mailbox. Malcolm grabbed his arm and pulls him along with us. 'Get you're hands off of me! I've still got a heap of stuff left!'

Suddenly the mailbox he was standing by a few seconds ago blows up in a fit of smoke, just as the police pulled up across the road.

'Ok, maybe we should run,' Reese changed his mind and the three of us took off running into the gloom of night. We didn't stop until we reached the house, dived through the window and ducked under our bed covers.

Just when we thought we were safe, the bedroom light was switched on. Lois knew that we had left.


	6. Chapter 6 Report Cards

Bella's POV

I constantly found myself glancing up at the clock of my final period class, waiting for the shrill school bell to dismiss us. Eventually it sounded and I couldn't help but smile. _Finally! _I chanted in my head, _we're no longer grounded. _

It had been a gruelling month of hard work and menial labour to make Lois forgive us for going out that night. _I'd never seen a woman so angry before! I knew I shouldn't have gone to that party and I warned Malcolm and Reese not to go, but that doesn't change the fact that I went. And it was a little fun to be honest _I contemplate making my way outside

_But I don't plan on being grounded again!_ I thought determinedly._ I couldn't stand it when Lois was shouting at us, I almost cried. It was... so... scary. _I shuddered at the memory. The worst part was that neither Reese nor Malcolm had spoken more than simple things like 'Can you pass the ketchup?' to me over the past weeks. Dewey was still sweet but I still felt like I was on the outside looking in.

I knew I should get my mind on to happier topics so I reached into my messenger bag for my report card that we were just issued with today. I traced my fingers over all of the _A_s scrawled across the page in different shades of red ink before sighing with satisfaction. I wasn't a social butterfly by any stretch, but at least I had my top notch grades too make me feel better.

Suddenly I was knocked out of my blissful trance by the sound of muffled sobbing. I followed the sound to the back of an old oak tree that was partially hidden from the school yard. I wanted to help.

Reese's POV

_Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! _I repeated to myself over and over again _I hate myself!_

'Are you alright?' a timid yet genuine voice asks from above where I was sitting, giving me a fright. I hadn't heard anyone approach. I quickly wiped my tears away and glared upwards, ready to beat up whoever planned on making fun of me. I make eye contact with the familiar blue eyes I see daily, only this time they're filled with concern and worry.

'Oh, it's you,' I murmured looking down at the ground.

Bella crouched down beside me, 'What's the matter Reese? I heard you -'

'I WASN'T CRYING OK?' I lashed out and immediately felt bad as she flinched. 'It's just- Why am I such an idiot?!' I casted my view away from her face. I could tell she was trying to figure out what I meant even though it was a pretty blunt question.

She must have notice my screwed up report card by my foot as she reached over to pick it up and unfold it. I cringed as she read each D and F I was given. The latter was the most prevalent. 'I'm so stupid,' I whisper.

'YOUR NOT STUPID!' I was startled by Bella's sudden proclamation. She had never raised her voice before. 'Reese,' she began again, shyness returning to her words, 'you're definatley not an idiot so don't call yourself that or put yourself down.'

'But my brother's a genius and I'm just Reese the bully. I'm hopeless.'

'No, your not. Don't compare yourself to other people. Just because academics isn't your strong point doesn't mean you're a failure! You have many great talents,'

'Yeah like what?'

'Well, you're an excellent chef,' she smiled, 'And you're the bravest guy I know. Your strong and great at thinking up plans to get what you want-,' she raised her arm to rub my arm comfortingly but I drew her into a hug. Awkwardly I pulled back quickly, just as surprised by her at my sudden action. I hadn't meant to hug her but my body just... took control. We both look away from each other, our cheeks flaring.

'Hey! I mean, thanks for cheering me up and all,' I don't know where to look

'Um,'

'What?'

'It's just I,'

'Spit it out!' I was getting impatient

'It's just that I could tutor you, I mean I got straight As and all...'

My surprise must have registered on my face clearly because then she added 'I mean if you don't want me to I understand!' quickly.

'No, no, it's fine. I probably need it anyway,' I waved it away. She face lit up and she stood up and walked away. She truly was a nice person, more than just a girl with big knockers and she seemed to see whatever good there was in me...

_ Whatever! I'm a bully; a mean cold-hearted thug. Why would a girl even want me as a friend? Why would anyone? She probably just has something messed up in her head. Oh well, she'll be tutoring me now so I guess we'll be spending more time together_

'I think she likes you,' a voice taunted above me. It was a boy hanging from his underwear on a high branch; that'll teach him to spill his lunch on me.

'Shut up Jeremy! Do you want me to put you up there tomorrow aswell?' I threatened, kicking the tree so that a few loose leaves tumbled to the ground.

'N-no sir!' he responded immediately.

**AN: Please leave a review on what you think. I'll probably be updating this story weekly/fortnightly from now so stay tuned for the next chapter :)**


	7. Chapter 7 Falling Apart

**Chapter 7**

Bella's POV

I'd been tutoring Reese for a few weeks now, he was still a bit abrasive but he talked to me more and I even caught glimpses of him being emotional and sweet. It made me so happy that maybe we could finally be friends.

'Come on you can do it, just apply the same rule we went over a few minute ago,' I encouraged while holding the page of maths question up to his face. We were sitting by the football field under a shady tree; I figured the fresh air would help him think.

'Umm... is it 42?' he stared intently at the paper.

My face lit up, 'That's right Reese!'

'Wow, I actually understood it. You just use the formula and you have the answer!' he exclaimed and grinned at me.

'I told you that if you apply yourself you can do it,' I congratulated him, 'now why you don't try the next one,'

He put on a face that told me he was thinking deeply as he concentrated on the following question. I sighed internally; he did this for every question and it took him a few minutes to work out the solution.

As I waited patiently, a few jocks walked passed us on their way to the field.

'Hey babe, nice tits!' one whistled at me.

'What can I get for a 20?' another one jeered followed by cat calls from a third guy.

'Virgin!'

I could feel my face turning bright red and I stared down at the ground, suddenly extremely self conscious.

Reese's POV 

I don't know how it happened. One second I was sitting right beside her watching as Bella cowered, unable to stand up for herself. _What the hell? They're making fun of her and she's letting them get away with it?! _I thought, and the next moment I had him, the first guy who called out, floored on the ground under me and was pounding my fists into his face. The other two had gotten away, for now.

'Don't. Ever. Let. Me. See. You. Harassing. Her. Again!' I told him between punches. I didn't stop until I felt Bella trying to push me off of him.

'It's ok Reese, let him go,' she pleaded. I stared hard at her before getting off him. His face was bloody and bruised by that point but I could have done a lot worse if she hadn't interrupted. The jackass ran off before I changed my mind. I could feel fist clenching in fury.

'What the hell do you think your doing?! Those guys were harassing you and you let them! And now you don't want me to beat 'em up?!' I exploded in her face.

'I... I just don't think violence is right, and I'm used to it anyway-,'

'You're _used to it?_ You mean they do this a lot?!'

'It's not just them, I just find it hard to make friends and always seem to attract the wrong kind of attention...'

'Well maybe you should grow a backbone and quit letting people walk all over you!' I yelled at her 'Don't be such a baby!'

I knew I'd gone too far because he lip began quivering and her eyes became wet.

Bella's POV

I could feel tears welling up in my eyes and turned to run. Reese hated me! He really hated me! I knew he hated me! The salty water was streaming down my face now, staining my cheeks, but I didn't look back. I guess I am a baby. No wonder he doesn't like me, I wouldn't want to be friends with myself either...

Malcolm's POV

I ran to Chloe's locker as fast as I could. I couldn't wait to see her again. I mean it had been like a whole 4th period since we last talked and I'd finally finished her mid-term paper! I saw her laughing with her friends and smiled wide.

'Sweetie, I finished your report! Sorry it took so long but-,' I began.

'Oh Malcolm baby it's you,' she smiled that amazing smile of hers and took the paper out of my hands. Once she had it her smile drooped, 'I want to break up,' she stated and her friends all giggled behind her.

'W-What?' I stuttered confused 'I don't think I heard you correctly.'

'It was great being with you and everything but I've moved on,' she fixed her smile back in place again and I saw her grip tighten on the essay which I'd spent hours on.

'But you-,'

'It's nothing personal,' she placed a hand on my shoulder as if she meant to comfort me, 'I just think that... well let's face it, I'm too popular for you.'

'You can't do this...,' was all I could choke out.

The bell rang. 'Bye,' she waved her fingers at me and sashayed down the hall. Before she was out of ear shot I heard her call back, 'and thanks for doing my homework babe.'

I fell to my knees in shock. The hallway had cleared almost instantaneously as everyone hurried to their next class. I didn't care about that though. My mind was swimming with thoughts: _What just happened? This has to be some cruel joke. She can't just... _until it finally settled on one; Bella was right.


End file.
